Journey of the Heart
by Skyler-Kaiba
Summary: The first chapter is basically a love fest, and a short fight with Eggman, but the story will get better as it goes on. Has many adult themes, so if you are under 17, please do not read. Adventure category is for later chapters.


A/N: This is my first ever Sonic the Hedgehog fanfiction, so please bear that in mind as you are reading and/or reviewing. I will list the pairings here so that if you don't like them, you can simply click the "Back" button on your browser to return to the archive. All right...pairings are KnucklesxRouge, SonicxAmy, and TailsxCream (since Cosmo died...T_T). All right, on to the actual story now. XD I think I've done enough ranting. Oh, and the first chapter takes place about 6 months after the final episode of Sonic X, since I've been watching it a lot lately (Japanese version...I'm starting to not like the 4Kids dub now that I've seen some of the Japanese ones...:P)

Oh and things in italics show when the character is thinking to himself or herself.

Sonic the Hedgehog

Journey of the Heart

Chapter 1: Peaceful Life on Mobius, Interrupted by Eggman!

On Angel Island, a certain red echidna with a white crescent mark on his chest fur stood guarding the shards of the Master Emerald with a smile on his face. He had a rather...interesting talk with Rouge the other day about relationships. The topic had been brought about by the departure of Chris, surprisingly by Knuckles himself.

They had talked well into the night, and by the end of the night, Rouge had been frank with him that she had only come after the Master Emerald a few more times to get a glimpse of him in all his...what did she call it? Oh yes, masculine and rugged glory. She had also confessed to her feelings for the strong male which had made him blush about as red as his fur.

Although he hadn't admitted to anything, Rouge had laughed, then yawned, her exhaustion from the long flight up to Angel Island and discussion with the redhead having worn her out. She told him that he didn't need to say anything to her right now about he felt at the moment, it could wait until the next day. So where was she now?

Since they were back on Mobius, and G.U.N had essentially granted her an honorable discharge before they had come, she had the freedom to do what she wanted. Perhaps she was pilfering some jewels somewhere...it would be just like her. As he thought of Rouge, he began to think of his other allies as well.

Sonic was usually out running somewhere nowadays, Tails was probably working on some project, Amy was probably still chasing after Sonic, Shadow was, well...dead, as far as he knew, and Cream was probably helping her mother with some of her baking with Cheese hovering nearby. He then heard an all too-familiar voice say, "Hey, sorry I'm late, Knuckie. Amy wanted to take me shopping."

Grinning, the male echidna turned around and responded, "Oh, that's all right Rouge. I'm just glad you kept your word. Truthfully, you're the only real visitor I've had since we got back to Mobius. Sonic and the others are always too busy with something else to worry about what happens to me." He took a moment to look her over, then noticed that she had on a slightly different outfit. It was a gray tube top that ended just a few inches below the female bat's impressive cleavage, showing off her flat belly, and a pair of green short shorts. The clothing made him a little red in the face, and he stammered out,"A-Anyway, what's...what's that your wearing? Did you get it when you were shopping with Amy?"

Rouge replied, "Yeah, just a little something I picked up. Do you like it?"

Knuckles answered honestly, "I love it. It...it looks really good on you." He was really regretting now that he hadn't told the bat how he felt the other day, so he told her, "Rouge...I have something to tell you. It's hard to put into words...but it's a good thing."

Rouge smiled and nodded, "Okay, I'm listening." _Is he going to tell me he loves me back? I really hope that's what it is. Oh gods...that sounded like Amy when she's chasing Sonic. Ah well_.

Knuckles took a moment, then finally confessed, "I...I lo-love you too, Rouge." His muzzle was about as red as the rest of him, but he was glad that it was finally off his chest and out in the open. However, he was mostly relieved that Rouge knew. Even if she couldn't love him back, at least now each knew about the other.

However, something the male echidna did not expect happened. Rouge leapt forward and captured his lips with hers, taking him into a deep and passionate kiss. As they deepened the kiss even more, Knuckles nipped Rouge's bottom lip lightly, begging her to let him explore the depths of her mouth with his tongue. Rouge complied and parted her lips. Once they were connected at the mouth, their tongues battled for dominance. They then both began to moan into the kiss, Knuckles getting hard and Rouge getting wet from the intimate contact.

Knuckles started to try and take charge, gently pushing Rouge back as they continued their make-out session. She was soon against one of the stone pillars, the male echidna suckling her neck and trailing kisses down her body. His body ached, needed, some form of intimate contact with a female. Otherwise, he just might go insane. He glanced at Rouge, a questioning expression on his face, in a way asking for permission to take her clothes off before they proceeded any further.

Rouge smirked at Knuckles' lustful gaze and responded seductively, "Go ahead, Knuckie, take it off." She gave him a kiss on the cheek to reassure him. She was pretty sure Knuckles was a virgin...most, if not all, his hours had been spent guarding the Master Emerald. He had never had the chance to be intimate with a female.

She was too, surprisingly, despite all the rumors that she was a whore or other such nonsense. Sure, she flirted a lot but she had never been in a real relationship with anyone and most of her flirting was just so she could get her way. Being a thief had certain...downsides to it. It put anyone that tried to get close in danger, and Rouge would never want to place a person she cared for in danger. Sonic and Shadow were the exceptions to that rule, but that was only because they could take care of themselves. They weren't called the Ultimate Life-form, or the Fastest Thing Alive, for nothing, and she DEFINITELY knew better than to underestimate the two of them. Her thoughts were cut off as Knuckles began to finger her. She moaned and grumbled when he stopped, that had felt really good. "Knuckie, if you're gonna do me, then DO me, dammit!" She had sunk to the ground, having gone weak at the knees from the attention ravaged on her by the red echidna.

Knuckles had moved with her, but he blinked, then nodded, "All right, Rouge. I've never done this before, so...sorry if I'm bad at it or anything." He finished taking her clothes off and positioned his rock hard penis at her entrance, guessing where it was based on her reactions from the fingering earlier. As he thrusted into her, he winced slightly and Rouge let out a small yelp as her maidenhead was ruptured. This was it...she was going all the way with him! But...it felt so right!

Knuckles had heard her yelp and with a husky tone to his voice and a small sheen of sweat on his brow, asked, "Are you okay? Did I hurt you?"

Rouge responded, "Heh...fine now, but...I was a virgin so that one hurt a bit. I'll be okay after a minute." She then nodded and said, "Okay, you can go back to it now, cutie. Doesn't hurt anymore."

Knuckles smirked and nodded, "Okay, you got it, baby. By the way, I was a virgin too so you weren't the only one who hurt when that happened first." He began to thrust in and out of the white furred female bat over and over again, the pace building, as well as the intensity of his thrusts.

Rouge kept up with him, bucking her hips in time with his thrusts to keep him pounding deeply into her dripping cavern. When she reached her climax, she screamed out, "Ohhh! KNUCKLES!" Her folds tightened around his member, then her whole body began to tremble and tingle from the overwhelming pleasure. She laid her head on Knuckles chest, panting.

Knuckles came shortly after she did, the feel of her folds closing around his hardness driving him even closer. He had thrusted one last time and that final time had sent him over the edge. He yawned, worn out from their rambunctious activities. He patted her head and lay down lazily on the altar, too tired to do anything else. He said, "Later on...can we go catch up with the others? It's been...lonely up here."

Rouge answered, "Anything you want, Knuckie." She kissed him on the lips, then fell asleep lying beside him on the altar with her head on his white crescent, listening to his heartbeat.

Knuckles looked at the Master Emerald, "Looks like you were right. Rouge wasn't only coming here to try and steal you. She was trying to steal my heart, and succeeded." He smiled at the sleeping female bat and closed his eyes, falling asleep after a short time.. Meanwhile, on other parts of Mobius, there were other beings that were exploring their deep heart-felt affections as well, in the form of a certain blue hedgehog and his pink, hammer-wielding girlfriend.

Sonic and Amy were having a picnic near one of the lakes on Mobius, chatting it up and talking about the recent events with the Metarex, Tails' latest invention, and finally ending on their feelings for each other. Although it had admittedly taken him his sweet time, Sonic said, "By the way, Amy...sorry it took me so long to say anything to you about how I feel. I love you, I really do. I was...I was just a little scared, truth be told."

Amy smiled and responded, "Oh...that's okay. At least you said something. Just curious, what were you scared of?"

Sonic answered as truthfully as he could, "Well, uh...it was a combination of things, really. First, I was scared that Eggman would try to use you as some sort of leverage against me, second, I was scared of your wrath if I said the wrong thing, and lastly...I was scared of losing you. I don't think I could bear it if Eggman killed you or something. I know it probably sounds stupid, but...eh, that's the truth of the matter." He leaned forward and kissed Amy on the lips, then pulled away after about a minute to breathe.

Amy gasped for breath then said, "Oh Sonic...so, that was all? Well, you know, you don't need to worry about Eggman as much anymore. With all of the friends we have, he doesn't stand a chance." She said, grinning and giggling.

A moment later, Tails and Cream showed up, wanting to share in Amy and Sonic's picnic. Tails said, "Hey Amy, Sonic! Would you mind sharing your picnic with us? Cream and I haven't ate since we left this morning to take a walk in her flower garden."

Sonic sighed, a little put off that his blissful moment with Amy had been interrupted, but replied, "Not at all, Tails, come on over." As he said Tails' name, he began to wonder about Knuckles. He had been pretty much isolated and alone on Angel Island. He asked, "Hey, has anyone heard from Knuckles?"

Cream shook her head, "No, I've not heard from Mr. Knuckles since we got back here. I'm sure he's fine."

Tails smiled and nodded, "Yeah, I'm sure Knuckles is all right. If there's anything he's good at, it's taking care of himself." As he dug into the picnic basket full of food, a laser beam hit him in the shoulder from behind and he fell face first into the basket with a cry of pain.

Amy gasped, "Tails!" She looked around for the source of the laser, wondering who would fire on Tails when he was distracted, "All right, you, show yourself! You'd better have a good reason for interrupting our fun!"

A moment later, a robot emerged. It was large, gold and dome-shaped, with four black arms and four silvery slender legs and an Eggman symbol at the spot where the legs connected to the body. It said in a robotic voice, "Objective: Capture Tails the Twin-Tailed Fox. Eliminate all who stand in the way." It began firing lasers left and right from a port on the front of its torso.

Sonic and the others dodged the laser blasts. Sonic replied, "Like I'll let you capture my best friend. Take this!" He began to spin-dash, rolling with all the strength and speed he could muster to take it down.

However, the robot seemed barely damaged and whacked Sonic in the stomach, sending the blue hedgehog sliding back into a tree. It then took that opportunity to extend one of its black arms to Tails, picking him up by his twin namesakes out of the picnic basket he had fallen into. It then took a firmer grip by wrapping its rope-like arms around the young kitsune's middle.

Tails squirmed, "Let me go! Argh!" He kicked and thrashed, trying to get free.

Cream gasped, "Tails!" She wanted to help too, but what could she do against a robot that was giving even _Sonic _trouble? Perhaps now was the best time to go get Knuckles. She flew off, flapping her ears rapidly as she headed to Angel Island, hoping that her friends would hold out long enough for help to get there. She unexpectedly ran into Shadow, falling back to the ground with a surprised squeal, "Oh...Mr. Shadow? But...I thought you were...?"

Shadow smirked and said, "It's gonna take more than being fired out of a dumb cannon and using a simple Chaos Control to get rid of me, Cream. Anyway, what's going on?"

Cream replied, "Dr. Eggman messed up our picnic with one of his robots, and he's giving Sonic a hard time! For some reason, he wants Tails!"

Shadow narrowed his crimson eyes briefly. If the robot was giving Sonic trouble and wanted Tails for something, Eggman had to be up to something truly nefarious. He told her, "All right. Well, go get Knuckles. We'll need all the help we can get against this thing if it's giving _Sonic _trouble. Hurry up!"

Cream nodded, "Yes, Mr. Shadow. I will!" She took off again, going as fast as she could to Angel Island to retrieve Knuckles. Hopefully he wouldn't object to being taken away from the Master Emerald (and possibly Rouge) for a few measly hours.

Meanwhile, Shadow ran to the others. When the ebony hedgehog arrived on the scene, he saw Sonic being squeezed hard by one of the robot's rope-like arms, while another of them had somehow detached itself from the main body frame and was rocketing towards Eggman's Egg-carrier with Tails in its grasp. Torn between which one to free first, Shadow looked between them and said, "Couldn't you handle yourselves for two seconds while I recovered from fighting the Metarex?"

Sonic blinked and looked toward the familiar voice, just to make sure he wasn't hearing things. When he saw Shadow, he gasped and smiled, "Shadow! You're alive! Hey, don't say that! We were handling it just fine until this robot had to go all spastic on us. Go help Tails! I'll try to spin my way free." He had already tried to once and failed, but he found his best friend's life to be more important than his own.

Shadow sighed, but nodded and began to spin-dash, racing toward the arm that was floating toward Eggman's Egg-carrier. He cut through it with his spinning attack and as he nose-dived toward the ground, then righted himself in the air and went to catch Tails. However, he soon saw Tails flying and giving him a thumbs-up, "It's all okay, Shadow! Help Sonic now! He couldn't get free!"

Shadow nodded and took off again, spin dashing towards where Sonic was still stuck in the robot's grasp. He managed to get Sonic free and smirked at him, "And here I thought you were the Fastest Thing Alive. If you were, that robot shouldn't have been able to grab you."  
>Sonic rolled his eyes at Shadow and said, "Yeah, whatever, Shads. I was trying to free Tails and it surprised me. Anyway, let's get rid of this thing."<p>

Shadow smirked and nodded, "Right. So...the plan?"

Sonic laughed, "Me? A plan? Come on, you know I think best on my feet." He yelped and jumped aside as the robot's two remaining arms attempted to snare him and Shadow. He added, "I wouldn't be surprised if you had come up with something though. You're a pretty quick thinker yourself."

` Shadow responded, getting ready to explain his plan to Sonic in the simplest terms he could, "Right you are. So...one of us has to distract it while the other attacks it from behind. I was able to find a weak spot on it back there while I was freeing Tails."

Sonic smirked, "Heh, you're pretty good to have been able to spot it when you're going that fast. I guess you really are the Ultimate Life-form. Although, I probably would have too." He shrugged, then said, "All right. So who's gonna be the bait? I mean, that's a risky role in this weird plot of yours."

Shadow replied, "I believe that would be you, Sonic. See, Eggman expects you to be attacking it, but not me. He doesn't know I'm back yet, so he probably made it specifically with you and the others in mind. Knuckles should be here soon, by the way. Cream's gone to get him. I ran into her on the way here. Hopefully we'll have this thing wrapped up before he gets here though."

Tails smirked, "Hopefully, but probably not. It'd get a rise out of Knuckles if we wiped out one of Eggman's robots without him. Although, he might actually be pretty impressed too." He shrugged.

Shadow responded, "There's no telling how he'll react, but never mind. Let's just focus on the task at hand, shall we?" He jumped to the right and shoved Sonic out of the way too, a laser firing in the space where they had been standing not two seconds ago.

Sonic told him, "That was pretty close. Thanks, Shadow."

Shadow nodded, "No problem, let's take it out."

While Sonic, Shadow and Tails fought the robot, Cream reached Knuckles and Rouge at the altar where the Master Emerald shards were kept. She said, "Knuckles! Mr. Knuckles, please wake up!"

Knuckles stirred lightly and opened an eye. He asked Cream, sounding rather put off, "Whaddya want, annoying rabbit? I was having a nice nap..."

Cream replied, "I'm sorry! Sonic and the others are in trouble! They're fighting a robot made by Eggman and..."

Knuckles was on his feet already, having carefully and quietly moved Rouge off of him while she was sleeping. He responded, "Eggman again, huh? I figured as much. All right, stay here with Rouge. I'll go help." Although he was still a bit tired, he hoped that moving around would get rid of some of the sluggishness and soreness of his body. The red echidna gave Rouge a swift parting kiss on the cheek then left the island to go help Sonic.

Once he reached the fight, he saw that Sonic and the others had significantly weakened the robot, but not defeated it yet. He smirked and asked, "Mind if I join the party, Sonic?"

Sonic gave a small smile at hearing his friend's voice and answered him, "Not at all. We're just getting this party started!" He continued to fight, ignoring the pain of his injury from earlier. It would eventually get to the point where it debilitated him, but it hadn't yet and he was going to take full advantage of that while he could.

After a long and tiring fight, Sonic and friends defeated the robot, leaving only a small heap of debris on the ground. Tails smiled and gave a thumbs-up, "All right, we did it, Sonic!" He heard a strange sound and turned his head, "Hmm? What was that?"

Knuckles shrugged, "You got me."

Sonic answered, dropping to one knee and clutching his stomach a bit, "I don't know...but let's hope it's a good thing and not a bad thing." He looked around, wondering what could have made that noise.

A moment later, a firefly-sized robot flew out of the debris and towards Shadow, lodging itself on the back of the darker colored hedgehog's neck. It then bit him. What sort of ingenious invention had Dr. Eggman come up with now? Thinking the strange pinch feeling he got must have been a bug, the ebony hedgehog swatted at it, but then winced when he felt his hand hit something metal, "What the hell?"

The robot took Shadow's moment of distraction as an opportunity to try and control his mind so it began emitting an ultrasonic (no pun intended) and ultra speedy frequency, designed to confuse whoever had the strange chip attached. He and Sonic were the only ones affected, since they were the only ones whose brains moved fast enough to keep up with it. Knuckles and Tails were pretty much unaffected by it, but they noticed that their friends were cringing and covering their ears.

Knuckles walked over to Shadow and placed a hand on his shoulder and asked, "Shadow, what's going on? Are you all right?"

Shadow managed to answer, as he was attempting to pry the chip off himself, "There's a strange chip on my neck. I think it's...damn!...trying to control me." He couldn't help stuttering a little as the sound hurt his ears and he was attempting to fend off the control of the bug all at the same time.

Sonic noticed Shadow trying to take off the chip and looked concerned as he rose to his feet again and plodded over to his ally, having overheard what was said before, "C'mon Shadow. You're the Ultimate Life-form...gah! Didn't you say that you were going to take control of your own destiny? Aaah! That no one else would tell you what to do? You can beat this thing, Shadow. Give it your all! Unh..." He fell to his knees, his head spinning because of the increasing intensity of the sound and the fact that he had been injured didn't help matters either.

Shadow responded, "You're right." He swatted the chip thing hard with his hand, destroying it and cutting off the annoying sound. He looked toward Eggman, who was taking the opportunity to flee, "Try again to control me, and you'll wish you'd never been born, Eggman." He glared after the retreating genius, trying to warn him off, but glad that they were done with him for now.

Sonic asked, after his head cleared, "Is everyone all right?"

Knuckles nodded, "I'm fine. Tails?"

Tails answered, "I'm okay...I got some bruises, but I am fine other than that."

Shadow responded, smirking, "Yes, but this isn't the first time you've been bruised."

Knuckles rolled his eyes and said, "You would know all about that, wouldn't you, Shadow?"

Shadow looked at him and retorted, "I don't recall asking your opinion on the matter, echidna. I'll see you guys around. I have a few things to take care of. See you."

Sonic nodded after Shadow, then looked at Knuckles, "Say, Knuckles...what were you doing before you came here to help?"

Knuckles responded, "Guarding the Master Emerald, what else?"

Tails answered frankly, "If that's all you were doing, why do you smell like sex?"

Knuckles blushed as red as his fur and said, "I...well, Rouge and I, we..."

Sonic cut Knuckles off right there, "Okay, we don't need the details of your sex life, Knuckles."  
>Knuckles nodded, "I'm glad, because I wouldn't tell you. I'm going back to Angel Island, you two. Rouge is probably waiting for me. Catch you later." He walked away too, anxious to get back for more than one reason.<p>

Sonic sighed, "Well, at least Knuckles found someone. I thought he'd be all by himself his whole life. He's about as warm as an ice cube at times."

Tails reminded him, "Yeah, but when it counts, he's there for us. He is really nice, he just acts tough. You know that, Sonic."

Sonic told Tails, "Yeah, that's true. Well then, I'm gonna go back to Amy now, Tails. I'll talk to you soon. See you later, pal." He walked away as well, leaving Tails alone.

Tails responded, "I'm not gonna be the only one without a girlfriend! I'll go talk with Cream and see what she says." He blushed at the thought of confronting Cream with his feelings. Although it had taken him a significant amount of time to get over the loss of Cosmo, his heart had pretty much mended and he was ready, wanting to move on. He was willing to because he knew that was what Cosmo would want. She wouldn't want him to linger on what could have been.

A/n: I know, kind of a corny ending, but oh well. This is just Chapter One! Oh, and if you can think of a way to integrate Silver into this story (I want him in it...just not sure how to get him in) without tweaking too much of the existing plot, please let me know in your review.

Teaser for Chapter 2: Tails and Cream go on their first date and Rouge and Knuckles get some very interesting news! Some strange aliens make their way onto the scene...but who are they and what do they want with Tails? Do they have some connection to Eggman? And why do they seem to know and be angry about the fact that the Metarex are gone?


End file.
